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Bullsquid
Bullsquids (taxonomic designation: Gastropolypus toxophlegmata,Half-Life Monster of the Week Feature on OGR.com or "Phlegm-shooting Many-legged-mouth") are a species of highly aggressive, bipedal creatures that appear throughout the Black Mesa Research Facility during the Resonance Cascade. Bullsquids are able to survive, if not thrive, in environments that are unfriendly or even toxic to humans, including sewers and pools of radioactive chemicals or biological waste. On Xen, Bullsquids are found drinking from Healing Pools. Description , as seen during the Resonance Cascade, with a Protozoan orbiting behind.]] The body of a Bullsquid is vaguely similar in appearance to that of a small Theropod, with two short, muscular legs and a thick tail that tapers to a point. The thorax abruptly joins the creature's head with no neck or other visible separation. A typical specimen stands roughly one meter tall and about two meters in length. Two slit-pupiled, black and glossy eyes are mounted on either side of their heads. The tail has a hooked claw at its tip, which explains the large amount of damage caused by the Bullsquid's spin attack. The Bullsquid's most striking feature, however, is a collection of bright Red, Cthulhu-esque, tentacles surrounding their mouth and allowing them to grasp prey. The Bullsquid can also charge an opponent with surprising speed and force; these two attributes are likely the cause of their portmanteau name. The Bullsquid's overall coloration is roughly comparable to that of a spotted cat: its skin is sandy brown with dark spots further on its back. The creature's skin appears to be slimy, similar to that of a terrestrial amphibian such as a frog. Like most of the creatures found on Xen, Bullsquids are studied in Black Mesa's Sector E. Behavior and skills The Bullsquid has an array of offensive capabilities. They display a very territorial disposition, as they have often been seen attacking other creatures and even members of their own species. They viciously attack Headcrabs, not stopping until all Headcrabs in their sight are eliminated, while they do not harm Houndeyes. They, however, do not attack the player even when instigated when encountered during the Resonance Cascade in Half-Life and in the same map in Opposing Force. They are drinking from a Healing Pool both times, however, so it is likely that they are simply not aggressive while feeding or drinking or that they cannot see the player somehow. At close range, a hostile Bullsquid will either maul its victim with its teeth or suddenly spin around, delivering a powerful strike with their tail, often causing gibbing. At long range, the Bullsquid is able to spit a toxic, bile-colored substance from their mouth; similar to the Antlion Worker, the Archer or the Charger. While not particularly accurate or fast, it causes moderate damage, even at very long range. Eli Vance's leg was lost when he was attacked by a Bullsquid while helping Isaac Kleiner at an unspecified point in time.Half-Life 2: Prima Official Game Guide''Aside from this, Bullsquids are completely absent from the game. Tactics *The Bullsquid's projectiles can be avoided by strafing left or right. *The Shotgun's secondary fire is enough to kill a Bullsquid with one shot at close range. If the player doesn't has the shotgun or has low ammo for it, the Pistol also works well, provided that the player strafes around the Bullsquid to avoid its attacks. *Bullsquid will often do not notice the player if they are eating a corpse while the player is behind them. This can be useful for sneakingly moving away from them without wasting ammo. Behind the scenes *The Bullsquid is a reminiscence of a creature originally created by Chuck Jones for ''Quiver, the "Land Squid".File:Quiver Land Squid.jpg *The Bullsquid was originally called "Bullchicken". It is still referred to as bullchicken in the console (i.e. "monster_bullchicken"). *The very first Bullsquid was white. Their second iteration was a bright yellow. Trivia * Bullsquids only attack with their tail when its target is very wounded. * In the chapter Lambda Core, there is a Bullsquid in an observation case, when the case is opened the Bullsquid remains idle and will not attack unless it is attacked first. * The Bullsquid was originally to appear in Half-Life 2. Like the Houndeye, also cut from Half-Life 2, they were to be glimpsed during the original train ride to City 17 and appear in the Canals. They can be found in the playable Beta, in the map "d1_canals_02", although the sprite of their toxic spit, now appearing green, does not show properly as it shows a green ball with a black square surrounding the ball.WC mappackPlayable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta * In Half-Life 2, their skin color was changed to a deep red maroon, while another alternate texture made them pale green. * A slideshow revealing the events between Half-Life and Half-Life 2 was to be shown to Gordon at Eli's lab. In one of the images, Bullsquids were seen chasing a family from a suburban house. * In the playable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta texture folder for the Bullsquid, a texture file named "NewBullsquidSheet.vtf" can be found. It is also signed by Ted Backman and dated 2003, in his stylized signature. * When Bullsquids were to get shot at they would react by jumping high in the hair while being idle. * According to series' writer Marc Laidlaw, they still exist in the Half-Life 2 continuity, being "around here somewhere." * The death animation of the Bullsquid has changed from Half-Life: Day One. The original animation displayed the Bullsquid as flipping over, similar to the headcrab, and emitting a cry (revealing the creature's white underbelly). In the retail version, the animation shows the creature as struggling and then collapsing. Gallery ''Half-Life'' Pre-release Quiver Land Squid.jpg|Concept art for Quiver's "Land Squid." Bullsquid concept.jpg|Concept art for the first, white Bullsquid. Bullchicken white.jpg|The first, white version. Bullchicken white scientist run.jpg|White Bullsquid chasing a scientist. Bullsquid yellow hq.jpg|High-res render of the yellow Bullsquid model. Bullchicken swim.jpg|Swimming yellow Bullsquids. Yellow Bullsquid spitting.jpg|Yellow Bullsquid spitting. Scientist bulls.jpg|An early scientist model with a yellow Bullsquid in the back. Retail Bullsquid hd model.jpg|The HD Bullsquid. Bullsquid first.jpg|Bullsquid in Black Mesa. Bullsquid headcrab attack2.jpg|Bullsquid spitting on a Headcrab. Bullsquid headcrab attack3.jpg|Bullsquid about to kill a Headcrab. Bullsquid Xen Op4.jpg|Bullsquid drinking on Xen in Opposing Force. Of bullsquid pond.jpg|Larger view of the previous scene. Of4a2000450.jpg|Bullsquid being studied. Half-Life 2 (cut) The green bullsquids attack model position. 160918110749 outsidecity072.jpg A Bullsquid attacking a Manhack while being shot at by a Overwatch Sniper Wasteland bridge05 02.jpg Bullsquids in wasteland_bridge. Med 1411093802 1393392212 image (1).jpg A Idle Bullsquid with another reacting getting shot at. }} Bullsquid beta.jpg|The ''Half-Life 2'' Beta red Bullsquid model. Bullsquid body signed.png|Texture for the red Bullsquid model, signed by Ted Backman. Bullsquid beta green.jpg|The cut green Bullsquid model. NewBullsquidSheet.jpg|Texture for the green Bullsquid model, signed by Ted Backman. Bullsquids canals.jpg|Red Bullsquids in the map "d1_canals_02". D1 canals bullsquid broken.jpg|Red Bullsquids attacking the player in the map "d1_canals_02", with the toxic spit sprite not showing properly. D1 canals bullsquid headcrabs.jpg|Red Bullsquid attacking Headcrabs in the map "d1_canals_02". Canals 02 11 bullsquid.jpg|Red Bullsquid in the map "canals_02_11". List of appearances *''Half-Life: Day One'' *''Half-Life'' *''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' *''Half-Life: Blue Shift'' *''Half-Life: Decay'' *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' References External links * * es:Bullsquid ru:Буллсквид Category:Xen creatures Category:Half-Life Category:Half-Life: Opposing Force Category:Half-Life: Blue Shift Category:Spitters Category:Enemies Category:Ted Backman designs Category:Half-Life 2 Beta